Somervell County
(Somervell County, Texas, USA) Pallasite (stony-iron)
Found 1919 (recognised 1937)
Several badly oxidised masses were found in 1919, totalling only 11.8kg. The largest mass was soon in the Oscare E. Monnig Meteorite Collection, and is now described in their catalogue as "decomposing mass(es)". To preserve this pallasite from further degradation, Monnig potted the whole mass in liquid plastic, to form a plastic block with a pallasite preserved right in the middle. It was a brave attempt, but it soon became apparent that the mass retained enough moisture when it was potted, to continue oxidising and breaking apart inside the plastic. In recent years, the extremely slow process of opening the plastic and trying to save as much of the pallasite as possible has been undertaken by the meteorite curator at TCU, Fort Worth, where the Monnig Collection is now on display. Within the badly oxidised chunks, there are some nickel-iron parts with intact olivine crystals.
